Grealish is regarded as Villa's finest young talent and Given clearly feels that his teammate has all of the talent required to meet expectations.

The experienced stopper says that under the right guidance he can become a star, and he believes new Villa boss Tim Sherwood should get the best out of the 19-year-old.

"He’s a class player," Given enthused. "He obviously wants to play more time for Villa as well, but he’s still very young and Tim Sherwood is just sort of letting him in gently into the team. But I think he has the right manager that will get the best out of him and hopefully he has a big future ahead of him.”

There had been an expectation that Grealish would make the breakthrough at Villa this season, but he has had to play a peripheral role.

Paul Lambert gave the youngster very little time on the pitch during his time in charge and Sherwood has generally used him as a substitute so far.

It means that the 2015/16 campaign is looking more likely to be Grealish' breakthrough one, and he will be hoping to impress if given an opportunity.

There is a natural arrogance to Grealish's play which creates excitement in the crowd and he looks like a player which Villa can build their attack around for many years to come, if they can nurture him to reach his maximum potential.

John Verrall

John is a sports journalism graduate from Staffordshire University. He is a huge football fan and a minute-by-minute writer for UEFA.com, as well as being a freelance writer for Sports New Media. John has also seen his work been published by the likes of The Guardian, World Soccer and Shoot Magazine over the course of his bourgeoning journalism career so far. He has a particular expertise in all things to do with the Football League – and is a passionate Peterborough United fan.